Polish packaging specialist Natalii has refocused its print production process to better manage fast turnaround short run work with Esko's Automation Engine and Equinox.

Established in 1985, the label specialist says that it was the first in Eastern Europe to launch IML printing on polypropylene film for plastic package molding. It was also the first Polish label converter to invest in HD Flexo from Esko.

“We are committed to upgrading technology and continuous development of equipment," says Tomasz Fiebich, production coordinator. "This ensures we are a reliable partner for any printing requirement and a strong market player despite stiff competition.”

Today, Natalii works with a number of large businesses, including food processing, chemical, cosmetic, automotive, pharmaceutical, and paper processing plants.

“The market trend is for shorter runs, high-quality print and tighter margins,” says Fiebich. “We needed to innovate our label manufacturing process to enable us to achieve the same quality in our digital and flexo processes.”

Equinox has delivered the quality required and Automation Engine has allowed the company to streamline the process. “We wanted to be the first to deliver higher quality, a better look for customers, and at the same time lower costs," says Fiebich. "We invested in a new proofer to print in Equinox and for the first time the proof is consistent with the print. The process is more stable.”

He continues: “Standardization of the prepress process translates into faster make-readies, and now we can print most jobs in up to seven colors. Besides cost reductions, we now get more jobs printed with the extended gamut and have also achieved a quality match of digital print with flexo. We now run about 60% of new jobs on Equinox.” He adds, “Our Full HD Flexo customers were requesting offset quality on flexo, and that is what they get today.”

Natalii found the implementation of Equinox was very straightforward. "The program is simple to download," explains Fiebich. "Some time was taken on standardization as you cannot take shortcuts with it. Normally, if the machines were available it would take couple of days, but we were in full production at the same time, so it took a bit longer.”

Educating clients was an initial challenge that was quickly overcome, states Fiebich: “The customers originally were a bit reluctant to use Equinox, but once they saw the print results they fell in love with it. They now can have highly vivid color in a faster and more cost-effective way.”

The investment has also had a positive impact on production times. “Because you don’t have to clean the anilox rollers, setup is much faster,” adds Fiebich. “It used to be a couple of hours to make-ready, now it’s 15 minutes. It’s hard to imagine how we worked before.”

“With their investment in Equinox, Natalii has been able to refresh its entire production chain," says Philippe Adam, Esko’s vice president of global marketing. "This has resulted in time and cost savings that will contribute to a heathier business, and their customers are delighted with the results they are seeing.”